Afterward
by 7thstory
Summary: Chichiri thinks it’s rather remarkable that Tasuki can be so persistent about something so insignificant... [Preslash, birthday gift for Xellas, GreenSpine.]


This is a (late, yet again) birthday gift for GreenSpine, because she is awesome.

Warnings: Umm...Not much, really. A bit preslashy, if you want to think of it that way, and some alcohol consumption. I don't even think there's any swearing.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Tasuki and Chichiri. :sigh:

---_Afterward_---

"Ya _said_ ya would, Chichiri," Tasuki reminds him.

Chichiri thinks it's rather remarkable that Tasuki can be so persistent about something so insignificant when they've just been returned to their own world after fighting one of the most powerful (and psychotic) people ever to exist in either reality.

"No," he corrects his friend, "I said that I'd go try some sake in _Miaka's_ world, no da. It isn't my fault we were sent back before I could." Truthfully, Chichiri had only made that promise because he fully expected not to survive their encounter with Nakago. Now that he has, he is beginning to regret his words.

"Well, if ya wanna be _specific_ about it, what ya said was that ya'd go with me ta drink some _foreign_ sake." Tasuki pauses.

Chichiri waits with a sense of impending doom.

"Lucky fer you, I know a place in th' city that imports sake from Sairou." Tasuki grins triumphantly. "Ya ain't gettin' out a' this one."

There is nothing Chichiri can say to that. He sighs, and allows Tasuki to lead him away.

---

The tavern is dim and faintly smoky. Chichiri can't find anything about it which distinguishes it from any of the other taverns he's been into (although, admittedly, that isn't too many,) but the minute they walk in the door, Tasuki announces that this is "his fav'rite place." The bartender seems to know Tasuki, and waves them towards a vacant table.

A few moments later, a waitress appears with a sake bottle and two bowls on a tray. "Kihana-san assumed you would want your usual, sir," she tells Tasuki, setting the tray on the table. Tasuki thanks her, and she bows and disappears again.

Tasuki pours the sake and pushes a bowl towards Chichiri. "Drink up," he says happily.

---

Chichiri takes another slow sip of sake. He isn't sure exactly how much he's had; Tasuki pours generously and often. Chichiri stopped setting his bowl down between sips when it became clear that Tasuki interpreted that as a request for a refill.

A hand suddenly invades his field of vision. Chichiri bats it away from his bangs irritably, and looks across the table to see Tasuki regarding him solemnly.

"Yer hair's weird," Tasuki informs him. "How's it do that, anyway?"

Chichiri pushes his chair away from the table. "I think you've had enough, no da." _And so have I, _he realizes, when he finds that standing up makes his head spin momentarily.

Tasuki protests, of course. It isn't in his nature to allow anyone to believe that he is vulnerable to alcohol poisoning. _One day, _Chichiri tells himself, sighing inwardly, _One day, I'll just let him to drink himself sick._ It is a promise that he has made many times, one that he knows to be hollow even as he thinks it. He makes his way around the table, ready to pry Tasuki out of his seat if necessary, but finds that the bandit is already standing. Tasuki wobbles slightly, and Chichiri places a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm okay," Tasuki says. "Thanks."

Chichiri nods and drops some money on the table. When Chichiri gives him a pointed look, Tasuki tosses a few coins down as well. They leave the bar.

---

Tasuki is silent nearly all the way back to the palace. Just as Chichiri is really starting to worry, (_Isn't Tasuki usually _more_ talkative after drinking?_) the other seishi speaks up.

"Hey...What're ya gonna do now?" The question appears to be directed at Tasuki's feet, but Chichiri answers anyway, because he doesn't think Tasuki has had enough sake to get a reply out of them.

"Go back to the palace and hope that I don't have a terrible hangover tomorrow, na no da." Chichiri smiles. "That's what you should do, too."

Tasuki shakes his head vigorously, and then blinks a bit, as though the action had jarred him. "Not what I meant," he says. "I mean, now everythin's over, th' stuff with Miaka an' all. What're ya gonna do?"

"I...I suppose I'll stay at the palace until Hotohori-sama's funeral is over, no da. After that..." Chichiri shrugs cheerfully. "After that, who knows?"

"Ah." Tasuki's eyes still don't leave his boots.

For a moment, neither says anything. Then Chichiri ventures, "And you'll be going back to Mt. Reikaku, no da."

"I guess." Tasuki's voice sounds dejected. Surprised, Chichiri stops walking.

"Isn't that what you were going to do, no da?"

By this time, Tasuki has also stopped walking, and now he scuffs at the ground with his foot. "Well, yeah. I just..." He throws a glance back at Chichiri. "I dunno if I can do it anymore, 's all. I mean, there was th' whole _thing_,"--here he pauses to make vague hand gestures--"an' now...well, it's just different, now."

"You don't have to go back," Chichiri tells him. "It _is_ your decision."

"Well, where else am I gonna go?"

And the offer is out before Chichiri even realizes what he's saying. He bites his lip, and wonders if he's more worried that Tasuki will reject it, or that Tasuki might accept.

Tasuki stares at him, obviously taken aback. Then, slowly, a smile spreads across his face.

"Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I'd like ta go with you."

Chichiri smiles back. "All right, then, no da." He begins to walk again. Tasuki follows him.

"Ah, but if ya don't mind, we should really stop at Mt. Reikaku. I gotta talk to Kouji an' tell him I'm gonna be away fer a while."

"That's fine, no da."

"An' then...!" And Tasuki is off, describing the places he wants to go.

Much as he is relieved that Tasuki seems to be acting normal again, Chichiri can't help but wonder what he has brought upon himself by inviting Tasuki to travel with him. _Ah, well,_ he thinks. _At least it won't be boring._

He isn't entirely sure this is a comforting thought.

---_owari_---

There you have it. Hope it was okay!

Ambika-san


End file.
